This evening we had a wonderful treat! We were invited to see the musical Little Shop of Horrors presented by Strathcona High Schools Drama. Our friend Merran is in the production and plays a “Doo-Wop” girl (“Ronette”). I won’t bother recounting the plot as it is so well known.
Had I not been told in advance that this was a high-school production I would not have guessed. The entire production was excellent: excellent talent, excellent sets, excellent venue, excellent stage managment, and even special effects.
The female lead character, Audrey, was played by Breanna, who has an incredible and obviously well-trained voice. Breanna’s singing was stellar and her New York accent was quite fun.
The male lead character, Seymour, was played by Matt. Matt really looked the part and played it well. I quite enjoyed the comical “Mushnik and Son” number. Mr. Mushnik was played a big bear of guy and looked huge compared to Matt (Seymore) who is quite skinny and shorter. The two together made a great comedy team.
While the lead characters were certainly held by talented players, the productions was really made grande by a super supporting cast. There were a LOT of people on the stage during the big numbers and it really built a great energy. Now, in a production like this, having a lot of people on stage can mean diaster. It is hard to find a place for everyone, and it is even harder to give each person something to do on stage, and then to make it all work together and not seem chaotic would seem nearly impossible. In this production the impossible was accomplished.
Three trios of “Doo-wop” girls provided excellent support in each number. The trios really provided the glue in every scene, and without them the performances, though talented, would have been merely interesting rather than brilliant. For example, at any given moment there was usually one on stage left or right, another in the balconies at microphones, and another scattered in the background. This really made THE difference. It help the audience stay involved because no matter where you looked there was always on of the Doo-wop trios drawing your attention and keeping your imagination in the scene at hand. There were some terrifically comical moments provided by these Doo-wop trios, not the least of which was a scene where one trio acted as three potted plants interpreting the lyrics sung by Seymore.
One thing that impressed me was that with all the people on stage at any time, the energy always stayed with the main action. That is a big accomplishment. Sometimes a stage play can get an uneven feel, with attention drifting from the main characters to the supporting cast in an uncomfortable way. In every scene, all the people on stage seemed to focused, organized, and they fed the audience. The extras that lounged on benches didn’t distract but added to the scenes. The Doo-wop girls never upstaged anyone and kept the energy flowing in every scene.
This is not just an accomplishment for the talent young men and women on stage. Clearly there was some well organized stage managment and creative coreography.
The sets blew us away. There was a good attention to detail without it becoming too much of a distraction. In many ways that is a strenght of the whole production. Lots of detail, but well focused. The sets were attractive, and technically quite sophisticated. Since the set was constructed in a solid manner and the stage was not extremely large, this made it impossible to have any whole-scale set changes. The set designers were very creative however. The bulk of the action takes place in the flower shop or on the street (“skid row”) in front of the shop. One scene has to take place in a dentist’s office, and there isn’t room for a separate set for the office. Instead the office was hidden behind one of the walls of the “skid row” street. The wall was rotated and inside was the office. It was brilliant and delightful. Another thing about the detists set was that they had actual dental equipment. You know that monstous thing that holds the little sink you spit in and has the arm with the light and drill? They had one of those!
The fact that this production had special effects cannot go unmentioned. The Little Shop of Horrors revolves around the ever growing man-eating monster flower “Audrey II.” This production had several different props for the Audrey II at different stages of growth and each model was setup to seem like it was alive. Honest too goodness special effects. The larger versions were well made: attractive but monstrous as well. In several scenes Audrey II has to swallow characters, and the large versions were constructed so that the actors could slip inside and disappear. This extra effort in the design of the plant makes much more entertaining. In the final scene when Audrey II eats Audrey the devouring of the lead actress looked so smooth and so graceful that the audience spontaneous applauded. It was wonderful.
Perhaps the only weakness in the entire evening was in the second last number. The singing of “The Meek Shall Inherit” had a good beginning but got a bit chaotic near the middle. Fortunately, the cast pulled it together toward the end of the number and that made a smooth segway to the final scene giving them a strong finish.
Hours later I am still so impressed. This evening was such a treat!
